Stalking Darkness (3 page)

Beside
Gavin, Hugh Bride steered the vehicle through the streets crowded with the
first wave of morning traffic. The youngest and newest to the team, Hugh could
drive anything with a motor. The former steelworker had arms the size of fire
hydrants and honed his driving skills through street racing. Of course, he
never expected to be attacked by what he originally thought to be an injured
dog he’d struck with his car on a deserted back road. The man had a temper as
fiery as his shaggy red hair.

They
were a rag tag group for certain: a death team designed to destroy the creatures
that fed on the innocence of the world. Vampires, werewolves or any other sort
of vile being was a target. The decision of when or who to target fell to the
commander, a disembodied voice that reached out over secured phone lines to
relay information, arrange supplies and assign missions. Gavin wondered what
the man would say about their current cargo. There was no doubt he already knew
about the girl; the commander knew everything, always did.

“Cadence
Farris,” Drake said, handing the college girl’s student ID over the seat. “That’s
your girl. From these, I saw that we were missing two bodies from the little
party we just left.
 
A
Julie Morris and a Brad Drain.”
He handed those college IDs up to Gavin
as well.

“They’re
skipping town and took some food for the road,” Hugh said without taking his
eyes off the road.

“Increasing
their numbers to create a distraction,” Raven said softly in the eerie tone
that said he’d seen the fate of both students, before turning to glance at the
cage behind him. “She must fight to survive if we’re to find them.”

“Won’t
matter much if her mind’s broken,” Hugh added as he pulled through the garage
doors and into the dark warehouse.

Gavin
knew that was a very true statement. He’d seen a dozen people make the
transition to vampire. Of those, a total of two managed not to turn psychotic and
start killing. Most he’d ended up putting down himself, and this woman might
just be the next. He’d never faced termination of a female who’d been turned
and it was not something he relish the thought of doing. Gavin spent the
biggest part of his human life protecting those like her, laying his life
willingly on the line so she could go to college, get married and have a pack
load of kids. Instead she’d become vamp bait.

Popping
the hatchback on the SUV, he looked at Cadence, still curled in a tight fetal
ball inside the kennel. She was a mess, and he knew if she survived many of the
gashes covering her body, they would scar. Looking at the small, smiling image
on her student ID, Gavin shook his head. The clan they trailed had an eye for
the pretty ones.

Lifting
her out of the cage, he headed for the shower room. The warehouse was once some
sort of chemical storage operation that requiring a decontamination area. It
proved to be a great place to clean her up. Laying her gently on the cool tile
of the floor, Gavin snatched a towel from a nearby metal shelf and tucked it
under her head. Cadence Farris was in for a long twenty-four hours. The change
was painful, and if she survived, the girl would need lots of hot water.

Shuddering,
he remembered his own journey from human to vampire. Hours of mind-splitting
pain and the purging of anything from his body the new form did not require.
When it was complete, he’d woken covered in human slime and smelling like a
week-old corpse. He’d scrubbed and showered until long after he’d exhausted
every drop of hot water and three bars of soap.

Reaching
around to the back of his belt, Gavin pulled the specially made titanium cuffs
from their loop and secured her wrist around one of the steel reinforced
concrete supports. He needed to get some rest, and the last thing they needed
was a new vamp wandering about. Standing, he frowned as Cadence began to thrash
about in what he knew to be only the first of many painful, convulsive fits. It
would definitely be a long few hours.

Chapter Three

Cadence
screamed.
 
Pain ripped through her
abdomen as though someone were inside clawing to get out. Lurching, she spewed
blood and globs of things unidentifiable across the cracked tile where it
slowly oozed down the drain holes. Never had she felt so sick. Attempting to
get up, she jerked at her arms, discovering them cuffed around a pillar up near
her head. What the fuck was going on?
 
Cadence was about to scream out for help when yet another wave of pain
ripped through her, reducing her to a quivering mass of flesh.

What
she guessed was hours later, judging from the faded glow of sunlight pouring
through a dust–covered, cracked skylight pane, Cadence opened her eyes. The
pain was gone, replaced by immense hunger and wariness. The pungent smell of
death filled the area as she tugged halfheartedly at the cuffs holding her.
 
Was that stink coming from her, she wondered
as she scrunched her nose and tried to twist so she could get a better look at
her surroundings.

“See
you made it through the day,” a deep male voice said from somewhere nearby,
startling her.

Cadence stilled, uncertain if she should move or not.
Swallowing, she turned her head
slowly to look over her shoulder at the large frame of the man who looked down
at her from the opening, which she guessed one time contained a door.
 
From the angle and the dying light, Cadence
should not have been able to see him in the clear detail she did. His eyes
surveyed her with a curiosity, suggesting he looked for her to do or react in
some way; he was uncertain when she did nothing but stare back at him.

“Where
am I?” she asked, her voice cracking and her throat feeling raw with each word.

“How do
you feel?” he asked without answering her.

“Tired,”
she replied, turning her face away from him.
“And hungry.”

“You’ve
been through a lot. Your strength will return with rest and a feeding,” he said,
stepping into the tiled stall where she could see him and twisting the rusty
looking chrome knobs.

Hot
water rushed through the pipes, clanking and groaning before spraying from the
overhead shower onto her. Steam rose from her body and though she was certain
the water must be scalding hot, it felt barely tepid on her naked skin.

“I
brought you some shampoo, soap, and a couple towels. If you promise to behave,
I’ll unfasten you so you can wash up.” He knelt down beside her, a key dangling
from the keychain in his hand.

Cadence
looked in his deep green eyes, surprised even in her current state of undress
she did not feel threatened by a man who was easily three times her size. The
calmness she felt lying there confused her; she should have been frightened,
screaming for help. Instead, she simply looked at this man as if there was
nothing unusual about her current predicament.
 
Nodding in agreement to behave, Cadence
relaxed as he unfastened both wrist and offered her a hand up.

“My
name’s Gavin. If you need anything give a shout, but don’t leave this stall
until I return with something to wear and some salve for your wounds,” he said
as he assisted her to her rather wobbly legs, making certain she was steady
before walking back through the door and disappearing.

Standing
beneath the hard spray, Cadence allowed the water to wash over her, taking with
it the grime, blood and stench that covered her. Lathering the scrap of cloth
that passed as a washcloth, she began to scrub herself, noticing for the first
time the large gashes in her hips abdomen and shoulders. She closed her eyes
and raised her face to the hot water. What had those bastards done to her, and
where were the others? She did not recall seeing the male who’d been helping
her among those at the party and something inside her said he was not part of
the vile group. Did he know anything about what had happened to her or about
her friends?
 
 

A
familiar old feeling gripped her: abandonment. Cadence had struggled with that
feeling for the past seven years. She’d nearly drowned in the emotion when her
parents and little brother died in a car crash a few days after her sixteenth
birthday. If she’d had a nickel for every time her aunt Gretchen told her it
was just part of life, and she needed to learn to take care of herself, Cadence
wouldn’t have needed to take out a single student loan. The arrogant woman had
no problem making certain her only niece knew what an inconvenience she was.
Cadence could honestly say if it were not for the modest inheritance, the woman
would have allowed her to be homeless. In the end, she’d grown strong and
independent on the outside and a puddle of jelly inside.
 

****

Gavin
stood watching as Cadence lathered her hair for the third time. The frothy
white bubbles cascaded across her tucked waist, washed away with the debris of
her change. He could see her wounds were already beginning to heal, and even
with the scars they would leave behind, she was the sexiest woman he’d seen in
quite a while, long legs, full breasts and a round ass that left him hard. When
she turned slightly so he caught a glimpse of the well-trimmed triangle of her
pussy, his cock jerked uncomfortably in the confines of his fatigues.

The
commander had already been in contact and, as expected, knew about Cadence.
He’d suggested the group keep the woman close at hand until they dropped her
off at an old military installation now used as a sort of retraining and psych
ward for the recently converted. If she survived, the commander hinted that he
considered assigning her to their team.
 
The
problem with that was Gavin’s sexual attraction.
 
Hell, they’d not spoken more than a dozen
words, but when he managed to be a dozen feet from the woman, his dick sprang
to life. Knowing the sexual desires that came with becoming a vampire, he
doubted it would be long before she had her long legs wrapped around him and
possibly the others.
A complication which could spell
disaster for the group, who up until now seemed to function without much
personal conflict.
 

With a
sigh, he turned his head. He was looking at the glass half empty. Cadence may
be just the change they needed to find the group of monsters they currently
tracked. There was also the fact none of them knew her. The woman might just be
the biggest shrew this side of the earth, repelling all thoughts of sex between
them.

With a
new certainty that his urges would be put to rest, Gavin headed toward the
shower, a soft towel and clean clothes in hand.

"Feel
better?" he asked, reaching over to turn the faucet off. "I brought
you something to wear."

"Thank
you," Cadence responded.
 
She took
the thick blue towel and attempted to wrap it around her.

The
cloth was far too small to cover her completely and only seemed to accentuate
her full curves. Clearing his throat, Gavin placed the t-shirt and camo pants
he'd brought on the shelf and stepped outside the shower cubical. He needed a
bit of space as she dried off and dressed.

"As
soon as you’re ready, I'll take you to meet the others and we’ll discuss what’s
next for you."

“What
do you mean?” her soft voice over his shoulder caused a chill to race along
Gavin’s spine. “I need to get back to campus for graduation.”

"Sorry
sweets, but I'm afraid that ship has already sailed. We've a lot to discuss,"
Gavin said, turning to face her. He'd intended to act cold and indifferent,
hoping to receive the same in return. Instead, she simply frowned at him and
dropped her eyes to the floor at her feet.

"Something’s
wrong with me, isn't it," she said in a voice which was no more than a
whisper.

Gavin's
gut
twisted,
and he felt like a total ass. He
remembered the feeling of confusion and loss when he'd been changed. He'd
thought everything was lost to him, his future vanishing in a single night of
blood and pain. It had been cruel to discount the things she'd be losing with
such indifference. It made him no better than the monsters that left her in
that hotel room to die.

"Listen,"
Gavin said, reaching out to grip her shoulders, "A lot has changed for
you, but you’re not alone. And I promise things will be all right."

He
wasn’t sure why he'd made such a promise other than it was what he thought she
needed to hear at that moment. He had no real way to guarantee things would be
okay, but he intended to do what he could to help Cadence adjust to what she'd become,
at least until she was in someone else’s hands. She nodded to him, and a slight,
tight smile graced her face.

Gavin
led her through the halls of the large warehouse, up a set of rickety stairs
and into what once served as the place’s cafeteria where the others waited,
seated around the building’s only table still in usable condition.
 
He felt a strange sense of pride, his chest
swelling up as he brought her to the others like some sort of prize.

****

Cadence
stared wide-eyed at the men who sat gawking at her as if she might bite them.
Why were they looking at her as if she was a danger to them?
 
Swallowing hard, she took the seat Gavin
pulled out for her.